When the Blindfold is Gone
by Hymns to Thoth
Summary: A confusing case in Montana leads the team on a very difficult chase. It only becomes worse when one of their own is taken.-Casefic in three parts. Hotch centric and Reid Centric


**AN**: My first fanfic of Criminal Minds! WOOHOO! Just for a heads up, this should only be three-ish chapters. THANK YOU ALL WHO READ THIS!

It's just a case-fic that I had an idea for!

If the characters are a little ooc, I'm soooo sorry. Let me know if there's any way I can improve and I'll do my best!

**Disclaimer**: I don't only any characters or the show. I'm just borrowing them to play with :D I am also making no money from this, and do not plan to. This is purely for fan pleasure

**Warning**: I'm rating this T to be safe. There will be some gorey details, maybe some cussing, but little else.

* * *

_Missoula, Montana_

The day was proving to be hotter than the news reporter had predicted. The only saving grace, if it could be called that, was that the two men were currently trudging through the waters. It was a nice day for fishing.

"Hey, Tommy, over here!" The shorter man said, wading deeper into the water. He knew it wasn't extremely safe, but the fish he'd been trying to catch for nearly an hour had swam that way.

The sound of a motorboat traveling towards them deterred the two men. They scrambled through the water and upstream a little, only to realize that all their gear was on the other bank.

"You lead 'em off." Tommy said, agitated. "And if you get caught, I'm not bailing you out."

"Just get the stuff, Crey." The other man laughed, falling behind as his buddy found a shallow edge to cross. When he made it to the other side, Tommy began running along the water edge, hoping to lead the now yelling cops away from his friend.

A sudden growl to his left caught the man's attention, and he froze. A large bear was looking right at him.

* * *

Crey tossed the equiptment behind a tree, sure that he could find it later. As he heard someone yelling, he quickly got into the water, wading to a small area hidden by a steep incline and fallen trees.

He paused as his waders caught on something. Reaching beneath the muddy water, he tried pulling at it. His hand touched something. It was almost flesh like, and there weren't scales. Curious he pulled it up.

A hand, that's what he was holding. With a terrified shriek, and ungraceful flailing backwards, he stumbled out of the water and back towards the bank.

"Sir," an officer said, fingering his sidearm. "I need to ask you to calm down."

Crey fell into an unceremonious heap on the ground, pointing towards the water. "There's a body in the water!" He yelled, looking back to the cop, then gesturing furiously.

Unsure if the man was playing or not, the rookie officer slowly stepped closer to the water.

An arm was floating towards the surface.

The officer reached a shaking hand towards his radio. "O-Officer Keller… I think… there's a body out here."

* * *

_BAU- Virginia_

"You can't be serious," Prentiss laughed, sitting in the chair behind her desk. She picked up her favorite pen and grabbed the first file in the pile. "Budget cuts? What more could they take away from us, the coffee?"

At this the youngest agent looked up sharply from his desktop. "If the budget cut includes the coffee machine, then I plan on going with it."

At first, with Reid's straight face and rigid posture, the black haired agent thought he was serious.

"Then we'll miss you, pretty boy." Morgan laughed, setting a mug of coffee on Reid's desk, then one on Prentiss'.

Reid smiled lightly and picked the next folder up. "Do you think this means the jet will be going?"

"I doubt it," Morgan replied. He stretched, then glanced to the blonde agent bustling from her office to Hotch's.

"Looks like we have a case," he sighed.

Prentiss stuffed her pen into her go bag. "As much as I love taking bad guys down, I hate when she hands us those folders."

JJ turned towards the other three, who either nodded or waved their understanding.

"Well, I hope this case isn't a bad one," Prentiss sighed as she stood.

Reid nodded, slipping his hands into his pockets as he followed the other two out of the room and into the briefing room.

The trio sat first, glancing around the near empty room. It always started there. The list of dead victims, the gory photos and the victims yet to come; the list of things to hate about the room was nearly endless. It grew every day, in fact.

The only thing that made it slightly better were the smiling families, the people who could be together, to help each other get better.

Hope.

Reid smiled to himself as he thought about it, the many cases and the people they had saved. He knew he couldn't do a simple mathematic equation to figure out how many people they had helped; there was always the possibility of the victims the unsubs had yet to choose. The few faces they could attribute to their victories, however, made it more than worth while. At least, that was what Reid tried to tell himself everyday.

At one point he had thought about quitting. To find a job that didn't grate at his soul like it did sounded so pleasing until he realized that even if it was one face, one person, his job was worth more than he could imagine.

Reid glanced up as JJ began passing out files to the team.

"The case is in Missoula, Montana." She said, flipping a picture onto the screen.

A picture of a body of water was projected in front of them, then one of eight bodies laying on the ground. They were in different stages of decomposition, which obviously meant they were killed at different times.

"There have been eight bodies found so far in the river nearby. A couple of policemen were going to arrest two men caught without licenses to fish when one of them ran away and stumbled on this." She changed the picture. It focused on the first victim, very decayed. "From what the autopsy reads, the men were all stabbed repeatedly, and the newest victims show that their," she hesitated a moment. "Their genetalia were cut off."

"What about the women?" Rossi asked, confusion plastered across his face.

"There were broken bones, and on the latest victim there was bruising. But there were no stab marks and no mutilation."

"That's vastly different." Reid observed. "But why would there be two MO's with one unsub, unless…"

"There are two unsubs." Morgan finished.

"That's not all." JJ said, setting the remote down. "The police chief mentioned that there had been four previous kills, all the same as these, that had suddenly stopped about two years ago. That being said, the women all died of overdose, the men of being stabbed and mutilated."

"So, two possible unsubs that met then dumbed the bodies in the same place?" Rossi asked. "That happens?"

"Actually," Reid sat straighter. "A few years ago, the BAU worked on a similar case where two different unsubs killed in the same city. They were attempting to outdo each other."

"But hiding the bodies suddenly… that seems to be going in the opposite direction. Instead of garnering more attention, they are getting less."

"Maybe they're only killing for each other now." Prentiss added. "They have found someone who can truly appreciate what they are doing and only show each other."

"Well, if they've been doing it for this long, they have to be meticulous. So meeting each other and being seen together would never be an option." Rossi added.

Morgan and Prentiss shared a small look.

* * *

The plane landed in the Missoula airport at eleven in the morning. The team walked out of the airport, carrying their bags, and walked towards the cars provided for them. Having only two vehicles, Reid, Hotch and Rossi tossed their bags into the trunk while Emily, JJ, and Morgan did the same with theirs.

Reid climbed into the backseat, buckled in, and pulled a small map of Missoula out to study.

"A map, already?" Rossi asked, sitting in the passenger's seat while Hotch took the driver's side.

"That's where my job always begins," Reid said matter of factly, scanning the river where the bodies were found and moving up to where the main streets and housing areas were. "There's a large distance between the abduction zones and where they dumped the bodies." He observed.

"Maybe they're trying to avoid being detected. Dumping farther from their homes than necessary."

"Or maybe that was the safest place to dump all the bodies without being caught and it has nothing to do with where they live." Hotch added. He pulled out of the parking lot and followed Morgan to the Sheriff''s office.

The heat was sweltering as they drove, and even the air conditioners weren't doing much good.

They pulled into the office and climbed out of the vehicles. "JJ, Reid, start a geographic profile and interview as many of the families as you can. Rossi, Prentiss, you two go to the initial four killings. These are before they met, so they'll be most public. Maybe someone saw something. Hotch and I will go to the newest site."

Reid nodded and followed JJ further into the cramped space.

Hotch followed Morgan back to the car and got into the passenger's side.

"This seems like deja'vu, right?" Morgan asked, putting the key into the engine and starting it.

"I'm not sure if this is exactly the same." The older profiler said. His phone vibrated and he pulled it out. After a brief moment, he answered the phone.

"Hello? Jess, is Jack ok? He is…" He sighed with relief, then, "yes, I can talk to him."

Morgan glanced sideways for a moment, then returned his eyes to the road.

"Hey, buddy, what's wrong?"

Morgan watched the road, pretending his best that he couldn't hear Hotch's private conversation.

It took them nearly twenty minutes to drive to the head of the path that lead up towards the dump site.

As Morgan turned the car off, Hotch hang the phone up.

"Is he ok?" Morgan asked.

Hotch frowned slightly. "He's just missing his mother…" he trailed off. It had barely been four months since Hailey had died.

Even through a bitter divorce, through a few years of living separately, sharing custody of Jack, through the quiet fights they would have, in his heart Hotch knew he still loved Hailey. She was the girl he had met in school, who consoled him from demons only she knew about. Even the team wasn't privy to that knowledge. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and opened the door. "I'll call him again later. Right now we have a case we need to focus on."

They got out of the car and started up the trail. "Looks like a foot trail…" Morgan said. He suddenly felt a little less sure about him and Hotch being the ones to traverse through the woods. The day steadily grew hotter.

"Doesn't look like any traffic could come up here, so hauling the victims up the paths wouldn't make sense. They would have had to boat along the river."

"It'd be downstream, so they wouldn't necessarily need a motor…"

"But how would they get back up the river?"

"Over here," an officer said, surprising the two profilers. The man took his hat off and wiped his forearm across his sweaty forehead, then put the hat back on.

"Officer Vale."

"Hotchner," said the dark haired man, then, "Morgan." He motioned to the other profiler.

"The bodies were dumped well up the trail," Vale sighed. He turned and began walking back up the trail. "Unfortunately for us, it's not even visible from the path, so even though we have a few people that hike this twice a week, they never noticed anything."

"Who found the bodies?" Hotch asked.

"Two young men… they were just looking for a catch we someone told us they were up here. Everyone knows those two don't own a license."

"Have you questioned them?" Hotch stopped behind the officer; the man wasn't very old, possibly as young as Morgan, but his face turned into a look of surprise much like a child's.

"Question them? I've known 'em my entire life. They may not pay attention to the fishing laws much, but I can guarantee that they wouldn't even get into a bar brawl, let alone kill eight people."

Morgan glanced at his fellow profiler, then to the other man. "It's often that the first people to find the bodies are the ones who have committed the crimes. Just because they seem outwardly friendly doesn't mean that they aren't hiding something."

The officer sagged, turning again and walked sideways down a semi-steep bank. The two profilers followed.

They had to walk towards a heavy wooded spot, and behind a fallen log they found a few more officers searching the water.

The bodies of the eight victims were gone, having been sent to the coroner hours ago. The area where they had been was murky, all the plant life dead and a sickly film covering the water.

"Were you able to find any cause of death on the women?" Morgan asked, looking around the area as a slow forming hypothesis bubbled in his brain.

"The best we can say is the last female victim hadn't been in the water more than ten hours. She overdosed…"

"So two types of victims, two different mo's…"

"They didn't care about their victims, that's obvious." Morgan said aloud.

"Well, obviously," The female police officer said, walking out of the water. She held a broken locket in her hand. "Isn't that how all killers are?"

Morgan shook his head, accepting a pair of gloves from Officer Vale. "There are some killers who feel some type of remorse." He picked the slimy locket from her hand and looked it over.

"Alice?" He asked.

Officer Vale's eyes widened, then his face fell.

"You knew her?" Hotch asked.

"Her parents came into the station a month ago. She was over 18, so there wasn't much we could do about her being missing. Alice Davies…" he motioned to the locket, "She was arrested a few times for solicitation and drug use. When we couldn't find her, we figured…"

Morgan gave the woman the locket back, then turned to Vale. "If she was involved in illegal activities, that could have given the unsub a chance to meet her…"

"So like the first four, she was a victim of opportunity?"

Vale looked back at the sickly looking water. "I have to go… inform her parents…"

"My team can do that," Morgan replied, holding his hand up. "They also need to interview the known victim's families."

"Right."

Morgan pulled his cell phone out and dialed JJ.

* * *

"That was Morgan," JJ said, walking into the small, stuffy room beside Reid. She glanced over the map. The dots were wildly placed, and unfortunately there wasn't a discernable pattern yet.

"What'd he say?" Reid asked, capping the marker he had in his hand and going to the other board.

"They were able to find a locket and even had the name of another victim. Alice Davies… but that was the only thing they could find."

Reid wrote the name on a notecard, then taped it to the board beside the other names.

"Excuse me," A small brunette knocked on the door and peeked into the room. Her eyes fell momentarily on the board, then quickly darted away. She paled, but continued. "The first two victim's families have arrived…"

"Thank you," JJ said, stepping forward. "Reid, could you talk to one? I didn't expect them both at the same time…"

"Sure," Reid nodded, closing the folder and setting it down. He followed JJ out of the room and to two families.

"Hello," JJ started, holding her hand out to the four out of place people. "I'm Jennifer, and this is Dr. Reid."

"Ryan York," The oldest man said, shaking her hand. "This is my wife, Teresa."

"Kyle Vagan." A very young looking man said. "This is our… my sister Madelyn."

"I'm sorry that you had to come here. I'm sure you are still grieving…"

"If talking to you can help catch whoever murdered our brother, then it's ok." Madelyn said, wiping a tear away from her cheek.

JJ nodded appreciatively, but a short look of… annoyance crossed Teresa York's face. "Um…" The blonde hesitated, "If you two would come with me, it won't take long."

The older couple nodded and followed JJ to another small, stuffy room.

"So you have news of the man who killed our daughter?" Ryan asked as soon as the door shut.

JJ paused, "We have new evidence that may connect your daughter's murder to recent events, yes." She sat down. "May I ask, when was the last time you saw her?"

"Three months before she went missing." Teresa answered curtly.

"Did you happen to know where she was before she had been murdered? An address perhaps or…"

"Our daughter didn't stay in one place too long." Ryan answered carefully, slowly.

"Did she stay in this town?"

"She stayed with whoever could give her another hit."

"Teresa!" Ryan hissed, turning to his wife.

"It's true." She said bluntly. "Our daughter only cared about the drugs. She left her baby with us and didn't come back for three weeks. We adopted Veronica and Lisa only came to visit once a month."

"You only let her come once a month!" Ryan threw his hands in the air.

"Please," JJ interrupted, "I understand this is stressful, but please understand this is very important."

Teresa straightened her shirt and looked away from her husband. "She never missed a chance to see her daughter." She said, finally meeting JJ's eyes. "She never came that day, though. Though she had many problems, she never, never missed visiting Veronica." Tears slowly slid down the woman's cheeks. "The day before we had fought about her taking Veronica for a day. I told her until she could stay sober long enough to get a house and a job, that our house was the only place. She hung up and didn't call back. I though she was punishing Veronica for what I'd said until… oh God." The woman finally broke down, sobbing into her hands. Ryan's expression softened and he rubbed his wife's back softly.

Before JJ could say anything, there was a quick knock and the door opened. "Ma'am, we have a problem." The brunette woman said, wide eyed.

"I'll be right back," JJ said, then followed the woman out.

"What's the matter?"

"It's all over the news." The police chief said. "The story is out and all over three different channels!"

JJ groaned, then pulled her cell phone out and called the rest of the team.

* * *

Rossi and Prentiss stopped at the last crime scene, stepping out of the SUV.

"So, they're all in trashed places," Prentiss concluded, looking around the dingy alley.

"But no one noticed them…" Rossi said; his phone rang. "Rossi."

Prentiss continued on, file in hand. She skimmed down the lines of information until she found what she was looking for. "Very back…" she walked to the end and glanced at the photograph, then back to the opening to the main street. "If it was on a Friday, he wouldn't have had time to drag the body from that street all the way here…" She turned back around just as a small car sped through the back street, splashing her in only God knew what. For a moment she stood still, livid that she was covered in something foul, but gasped, then turned and hurried back to Rossi.

The other profiler hung his phone up with an irritated sigh. He glanced up. "Did you trip and fall?" He asked, a wry smile crossing his lips.

"No," Emily countered, slipping out of her jacket top. Thankfully it hadn't seeped into her shirt. "All the crime scenes had _back streets."_ She said quickly. "The unsubs must have driven down them to dump the bodies. Everyone is so busy partying on Friday that they wouldn't have noticed!"

Rossi frowned. "Then they must have met before and began killing together from the beginning. The same ideal dump sites, they would have had to work together."

"Then the theory about them hiding the bodies better was instead a forensic counter measure," Prentiss nodded.

"Well, we should get back to the station." He shook his head and slid his phone back into his pants pocket. "The press has news stories about the serial killers being back…"

* * *

The team stood in the small room, the walls covered in crime scene photos and a map.

With the unsubs alerted to the police's knowledge of their dumpsite, the case just gotten harder.

Though they had learned some, there were still more important questions left unanswered. The geographic profile wasn't even a help; the best guess they had was he was a local.

Thus the media alerting the police presence could jeopardize even finding the unsubs.

With little else they could do, and the ever growing lateness of the night, they decided to call it a night.

The hotel they had been put in was, to say the least, a meager accommodation.

"Two per room?" Rossi asked, eyebrow raised.

"They must be serious about the budget cuts, " Prentiss shook her head and grabbed her bag and JJ's as the blonde grabbed the pile of folders.

"I'm…" Morgan began, but Hotch interrupted him.

"I'll room with Reid tonight."

Morgan hesitated a moment, but followed Rossi to their room.

"Thank you but you didn't have to do that." Reid said shortly.

Hotch frowned; "I know."

Reid placed his bag on the bed and began pulling a few things out.

Hotch sighed quietly, then began unpacking his own things.

He had a bad feeling this case was going to lead somewhere bad.

* * *

**AN**: Thank you for reading! Feel free to review or comment, as both are more than welcome.


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